Method of coating shoe surfaces



Nov. 14, 1944. c. HJMAGURN METHOD OF COATING SHOE SURFACES Filed June 2J7, 1941 JHL/Efi/ZIL Zhaza/as EJ757152? ,hadtotheaceompanyingdrawing Patented Nov. 14, t

UNITED STATES PATENT I OFFICE ma'rnon or ooa'rmo snon summons Charles H. Magurn, Arlingt mMasa, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich'Comps-ny. New York, N; Y.,

a corporation of New York Application June 22,1941; Serial No. 409,013

2 Claims. (01. 12-142) This invention relates to the coating of sur' faces and especially to the of articles comprising natural rubber or other rubber-like material, such for example as rubber footwear; wherein it is desired for the purpose of ornamentatio-n or reinforcement, or both. toprovide Fig. 2 after moval of most of the masking elements.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a corner of one of the composite pieces each of which comprises a masking part and associated ornamental part, the two parts of the composite piece a coated surface adjacent to asharply-defined I uncoated portion.

In the case of rubber footwear, for example. it isfrequently desired to provide rubber toe. tips, heel pieces and lacing stay portions and other areas with a reinforcement of rubber in contrast to the adjacent areas, which adjacent areas are coated as by spraying, dipping or otherwise applying a rubber cement; a lacquer, or an aqueous or other liquid dispersion of rubber or other substancev I The application or a mask to an area upon the shoe to shield such area from adjacent 'areas during spraying or other coating operations has required time-consuming care to effect the desired edge relationship and'has not always produced the desired accuracy in defining the edge of the uncoated part. Frequently the application of the mask has been improperly done so being shown as separated at the corner for the purpose of illustration.

Pig. 5 is a sectiontaken along the line 5-! of Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a composite I masking part and toe tip pieceffor an article .0! rubber footwear.

Fig. 7 ma perspectiveview of an article of footwear constructed in accordance with the invention. i

In accordance with the invention I avoid entirely thenecessity of matching a masking ele- 'ment to a part after such part has been as that an undesirable overlapping. the adjacent 2 coated and uncoated areas has resulted The invention is useful for example in making overshoes with rubber surface reinforcements adjacent. to' a main surface of ,a suede-like ap- Y pearance which maybe provided by an aqueous dispersion of coating material sprayed upon such surface. The invention is useful especially where 1 it is desired that the uncoated sections have a f bright appearance simulating patent leather in contrast to a suede-like appearance of the ad- Jacent areas. The invention, however, is not re- "strictcd in application to the manufacturcsoi rubberv footwear but has utility in the-manufacture of other articles as well, including mats, panels and other articles where sharply con- .trasting appearanceis desired.

The chief objects of the invention are to provide uniform accuracy in the masking 'of parts so that a sharply-defined, unooatedarea sembled with the article proper, and I avoid entirelythe necessity ofadjusting the matching material to bring it into correspondence with 'theedgeof the part. In-the attainment of the objects of the invention a composite sheet material isflrst provided having a layer of masking material superimposed upon and lightly adhered to rubber-like or other sheet material suitablefor permanent association withthe article in a reinforcing or ornamental capacity. From the composite material pieces of the desired final shape for use on the article are cut or died out so that the edges of the masking material conform uniformly to the part to be protected and preferably so that the masking material and the underlying part are adhered together along the edges as a-result of the simultaneous cutting, so as to assure complete protection of the underlying part. The composite piece thus formed is thenmounted upon the surface of the 1 article and secured thereto as by adhesion in its desired final disposition. The article is .then subiected to a coating operation; by spraying or otherwise, to coat the adjacent area, after which the masking material maybepeeled off the proadjacent to a coated area maybe provided with little or no chance for improper masking during j the coatin operation, and to provide-,forconvenience of procedure and economy of materials These and further objects will be apparent from the following description, reference being in which: Fig. 1 isaperspective view Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an article-disupon a support and assembled fora spray- I composite material upon a support and illustr ting the dieing out of shaped parts in accordance with a step in theprocedure of "the invention.

1 suitable material. Upon the surface of the back- 1 11m: ll is mounted a plurality of ornamental pieces tected parts leaving the latter on the article in -sharplydeflned and contrasting appearance to v the adiaoent coated area.

r In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive,

invention isflapplied to production of an ornamental ma'tor panel piece which may comprise a sheet backing." of rubber, fabric or any other i]. u andJLH. illustrated in m. a in the manner ofaborder design. Thepieces II, II and l2, It may be of rubber-like material. or of fabric or othersheet material preferably having a bottom surface of, rubber or other adhesive material that maybeunited permanentlyby adhesion to the surface of the backing l0.

the spraying operation and after re- In sharp contrast to the ornaments |2, |2, the surface of the backing H) has a coating l3 giving the surface, for example, a suede-like appearance.

In accordance with the preferred procedure-of the invention, with reference to Fig. 1, a sheet I of material from which the parts |2, I! may be cut, is assembled with a sheet l5 of masking material, the two being lightly adhered together in composite relation. The composite structure may be laid upon a suitable support l8 to facilitate cutting out composite parts corresponding in shape to the parts l2, I2, as by means of a cutting die H. In Fig. 1 the operation of cuttingcomposite parts ||a corresponding to the parts is illustrated.

The composite pieces I la, |2a are then mounted upon the sheet backing ID, for which a support l8 may be used, the composite pieces I la, |2a being located in the desired final positions upon the backing and adhered thereto. While the underlying material Ii of the composite parts Ha, |2a may comprise tacky unvulcanized rubber composition in its bottom face, which makes possible good permanent adhesion of the composite parts to the backing, cements or other adhesives may be used to effect the attachment.

With the parts arranged in their final desired disposition, a coating is applied to the exposed face as illustrated in Fig. 2. This may be effected as by means of a spray gun i9 or by dipping, brushing or in any other suitable manner. During the spraying operation all the parts II, II, I2, l2, are fully protected by the superimposed masking material, without any uncertainty as to the proper matching of the masks, and further assurance of sharply-defined protection at the edges of the parts is obtained as a result of the previous cutting operation by a narrow marginal zone of firm adhesion, or actual coalescing in the case of two surfaces of unvulcanized rubber, as is indicated at 2B in Fig. 5 between the ornamental element It and the masking material l5.

This narrow zone 20 of juncture is subject to easy rupture after the spraying operation, permitting the masking parts to be peeled readily from the pieces II, II, |2, |2, as indicated at 2|, 22 in Fig. 3, leaving the surfaces of the parts II, N, |2, |2, exposed to constitute a decoration or exposed reinforcement of the final article. I The article may then be subjected to a vulcanizing operation and finishing operations as desired.

For the masking material |5 any suitable protecting material may be used such for example as sheet rubber, fabric, paper, wax or other material which may be readily removed after the coating operation. In cases where insufficient adhesion exists between the sheets l4 and ii a light coating of readily separable adhesive material may be provided. In the case where both the sheet l4 and sheet |5 are of tacky unvulcanized material the strength of the adhesion may pearance and a heel piece 32, a stay piece 33, and a toe tip 34 may be provided of rubber in contrasting, bright appearance simulating patent leather. The sharp lines of demarcation between the areas of contrasting appearance may be provided by the procedure of the invention as hereinabove described.

For example, with reference to the toe tip 34, this together with its masking part 35 may be died out from composite sheet material as hereinabove described with reference to Fig. 1, the composite part being cut to the desired final shape. The composite part is assembled upon the contoured upper of the overshoe, and, preferably prior to the application of the sole 36, the spraying or other coating operation is carried out to provide the suede-like surface 3|. Upon peeling off the mask 35, the toe tip 34, which remains as a part of the shoe, has its uncoated surface exposed in sharply-defined contrast to the surface 3|. The same procedure applies to the other parts 32 and 33 where a contrasting appearance is desired.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim: 7

l. The method of making an article of footwear comprising rubber-like material having a portion of the surface of the upper coated adjacent to a sharply-defined uncoated portion, which method comprises providing as an independent assembly a layer of tacky extensible resilient footwear building material having a superimposed layer of extensible masking material lightly adhered thereto by virtue of the tacky surface, cutting from such assembled layers throughout the total thickness thereof a composite piece of final shape for use as footwear trim while the layers remain in the adhered relationship, providing a partially completed article of footwear having an upper, then mounting the cut-out composite piece upon the surface of said upper in adhesion therewith, then applying coating material to the surface of said upper adjacent to the composite piece, then removing the layer of masking material to expose the underlying layer'of extensible resilient material as a trim surface of the article.

2. The method of making an article of footwear comprising extensible resilient material having a portion of the surface of the upper coated adjacent to a sharply-defined uncoated porbe reduced to a point where separation is easily with a main body surface 3| of suede-like aption, which method comprises providing as an independent assembly a flat layer of tacky extensible resilient footwear-building material having a. superimposed flat layer of extensible masking material lightly adhered thereto by virtue of the tacky surface, cutting from such assembled layers throughout the total thickness there- Of a composite piece of final shape for use as footwear trim while th layers remain in the adhered relationship, providing a partially completed article of footwear having an upper,

' mounting the cut-out composite piece about the contoured surface of said upper in conforming adhered relation thereto, applying coating material to the surface of said upper adjacent the composite piece, and then removing the layer of masking material to expose the underlying layer of footwear-building material as a trim surface of the article.

CHARLES H. MAGURN. 

